The invention concerns call distribution centers which perform advanced analyses of incoming calls, such as (1) speech recognition to ascertain verbal content of the call, or (2) spectral analysis of the call signal itself, to ascertain physiological state of the caller, or both (1) and (2).
Automated Call Distribution centers, ACDs, are well known, and are widely used in retail telephone merchandising. FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of one type of ACD. The ACD receives an incoming telephone call 3, locates a free AGENT, and routes the call to that free AGENT. The AGENT deals with the incoming call, as appropriate. If no AGENTs are presently available, the ACD routes the call to a recording center (not shown), which records the call, and delivers the recorded call to an AGENT at a later time.
In general, a primary purpose of the AGENTs is to fulfill the needs, or identify the intentions, of the calling parties. However, in some situations, the calling parties are not always able to articulate their needs. For example, a small child calling an ACD at a police department, seeking assistance in an emergency, may experience difficulty in explaining a problem.
In other situations, a calling party may intentionally, but innocently, conceal that party""s intentions. For example, a calling party may be very dissatisfied with a product previously provided by the organization which operates the ACD. But that party may originate from a cultural background in which vigorous complaining is considered inappropriate. Further, the AGENT receiving the call may originate from another cultural background, in which such complaining is considered commonplace. In such a situation, the point of view of the caller may not be correctly communicated to the AGENT.
In yet other situations, calling parties may intentionally conceal their intentions, but in a non-innocent manner, as when they wish to engage in trickery or fraud.
Therefore, it is clear that telephone communication, of itself, is not an ideal communication medium for conveying the intentions of a calling party.
An object of the invention is to provide an improved ACD.
A further object of the invention is to provide an ACD which indicates certain aspects of the state-of-mind of callers.
A further object of the invention is to provide an ACD which applies advanced analysis techniques to the voice signal delivered by callers.
In one form of the invention, speech recognition is performed on incoming calls. Key words are identified within the call, thereby allowing the call to be classified into one of several possible classifications.